This would be one of the most exciting days for our China Tour. We would be doing the Huangshan hike in the morning before heading over to Tunxi City for the night to prepare for our southward train ride to Wuyishan the next day. It was still very dark when we went to the restaurant for breakfast. We were the first guests at the restaurant while breakfast was getting ready.

We weren’t having very high expectation for breakfast at the hotel. However, while the breakfast spread wasn’t comparable to any four star hotels in major cities, the food available was quite decent for this three star hotel in a rural area of scenic mountain site. Food was hot and sufficient and we were fed.

After breakfast, we returned to our room, got our backpacks with some food and water and then returned to the hotel lobby to check out. We left our main luggage with Cheng Jin Hotel. We could also borrow raincoats to standby just in case we needed them up in the mountains. The hotel also loaned us walking sticks but after trying them out, we decided not to bring them along for our hike.

Bus from Tangkou to Cloud Valley

So we left Cheng Jin Hotel and walked up to the bus terminal nearby. It was 7 am and it was getting brighter. There were self-service bus ticket machines but we preferred not to use them. We queued for a short while and bought our bus tickets. The bus ticket cost CNY 19 each. Next we walked over to the bus departure hall. We were required to go through security screening and had our bags scanned. An old man in front of us decided to challenge the procedure and was rebuked by the security staff.

For the past few days, residents of Anhui Province were given free entry into Huangshan National Park. The mountain was packed with visitors exceeding thirty thousand people. Hence, we decided to go up to Huangshan first thing in the morning to beat the crowd. Even so early in the morning, there was a sizeable crowd at the bus station.

After queuing for a short while, we boarded the bus heading up to the cable car station at Cloud Valley. It had been raining almost the whole night so the roads were still wet. It was also very misty as the bus drove along winding roads towards Cloud Valley. At least one passenger vomited during the journey. We were glad we didn’t eat too much during breakfast. Notwithstanding, the scenic views along the way were quite astounding even before our actual hike up Huangshan. About thirty minutes later, we arrived at Cloud Valley Station.

Cable Car up to Huangshan

The surrounding was wet and misty but not very cold. The air was of course fresh but humidity was rather high. There were quite a number of visitors at the base here. We made a quick visit to the toilet here and then proceeded to the ticketing office to purchase tickets into the park to take the cable car up Huangshan. Entrance fee was CNY 150 per person and cable car ride was CNY 65 each during low season. Those under 18 enjoys discounted fare.